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Politics : WAR on Terror. Will it engulf the Entire Middle East? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Nadine Carroll who wrote (14649)	8/1/2006 7:01:38 PM
From: Scoobah	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 32591

Bluff or no bluff, they have threatened Israel publicly that if they get within a certain diameter of Syria, that Syria will attack. Syria has a host of scuds and a full menu of chemical warheads. Syria may also be host to whatever Saddam had in that dept. as well. Israel is currently operating within walking distance of Syria in BaalBeq so we will soon see if they want to get into the fray. Personally, I believe that Israel must engage Syria here and now, and call their bluff, even if it means bringing about a hail of fire and brimstone from Syria and even Iran. With 130,000 US Marines, and all the warships parked offshore, I dont know when Israwl will have a better opportunity, do you?

To: Nadine Carroll who wrote (14649)	8/1/2006 9:21:00 PM
From: carranza2	Respond to of 32591

Bashar the Brave knows better than to engage Israel directly. His forces would be completely wiped out. I am a bit more comfortable now as Israel is going in on the ground and engaging in special ops such as the one currently underway at Beelka. The fact that the IAF was able to go into the heart of the Bekaa Valley without apparently sustaining any air losses [apparently including no loss of helicopters] is incredible since the Valley has been known to be highly defended against air strikes. The thing I have been thinking about is that Hizbollah was becoming so strong that it may have been inevitable that it would try a coup d'etat in Lebanon, thereby upsetting the power balance in a very big way. The strikes will have weakened H. sufficiently so as to weaken its political power and its ability to stage such a coup. The post-war scene will be highly favorable to Israel no matter what shape the reasonably foreseeable ultimate results end up actually being. From this armchair quarterback's perspective, it seems that the operation will be a success, a costly one, but one that will ultimately lead to increased security to Israel, decreased influence for Syria and Iran in a critical place, and a better position for the US. Nonetheless, I think it has to be admited that the democratization initiative pursued by the US in Lebanon and elsewhere has taken a blow since it is obvious that the sectarian and religious conflicts in Lebanon will once again surface.